A Change Of Heart
by Melancholia St. Clair
Summary: 15 year old Scarlett Johnson is the typical rebellious type, always disobeying her mother, living life by her own rules. But she has a secret. When she moves to a new town, meets new people, will she have a change of heart? Will her secret possibly be revealed?
1. Good Riddance

**Chapter 1: Good Riddance.**

**Rated T for mild swearing, and possible violence.**

**I do not own Animal Crossing.  
**

"Goodbye, sweetie!" my mother, Kathy, cried while trying to wrap her arms around me. I moved away from her.

"Don't call me sweetie".

I didn't want her stupid, trifling love. Love has always been overrated anyway.

She was sending me away to an even more stupid, trifling town that no-one ever heard of, and one that I never even wanted to live in.

But of course I had no say in the matter. She thought it would be a "good experience" for me to live on my own. I really don't understand how her brain works. How is sending me away going to help me? I'll be away from my friends with no phone, no laptop. She confiscated them, claiming that they're unhealthy for me. The only way to contact anyone is by letter.

But come on, who writes letters these days? Nobody. Exactly. So why should I start? Anyway, I should probably introduce myself.

My name's Scarlett Johnson. Yeah, I know. Weird name. Whatever. I didn't choose it. My hair's bubblegum pink. My mom was against me dying my hair until I was at _least_ 18. I'm 15. I disobeyed her. So what? Sue me. I always disobey her.

Last year she grounded me, so I couldn't go to Robert Black's party. I went anyway. Got a tattoo there on my ankle. A tattoo of an anchor. I guess if you were into that symbolism shit, you could say it represents the fact that I feel that my mother weighs me down.

And at Rachel Murry's 16th bash, I got my tongue pierced. It hurt a lot, but I didn't back out of it, unlike Tess Evans.

She is _such_ a pussy. She backs out of everything. Even the simplest things, like truth or dare.

All she had to do was smooch with Aaron Roberts and she refused to. Everyone laughs about her behind her back.

She gives us every reason to. She won't sneak out anywhere 'cause she doesn't want to disobey her 'mommy'. Ha. What a loser.

"Please, Scarlett," my mother pleaded. "I'm doing this for your benefit. Please don't act like this".

"Yeah, Kathy," I grunt. "It's for my benefit, all right. You're simply washing your hands of me. It's the cowardly thing to do, really. If you were actually a decent mother, you'd let me stay home. With my friends. People that actually _care_ about me".

She sighed. "Sweetie, I do care about you. And they're not your real friends. Why on earth can't you see that? They're a bunch of delinquents who are never going to amount to anything. It's better for you to stay away from them".

I look her right in the eye. "I said _d__on't_ call me sweetie".

I slammed the door shut, turning to face the front of the car. She waved. I didn't. I pulled my seat belt on, and sunk down deeper into my seat.

The taxi driver turned on the ignition, and the car lurched forward swiftly. I turned around and stared at my mother, as she slowly got smaller and smaller. Soon she was just a small, insignificant dot in the distance. But I guess she was always small and insignificant in my mind.

"Jeez, this rain is bein' terrible, ain't it?". The taxi driver asked. He was just trying to be friendly, but I wasn't in the mood for other people.

He was a middle-aged man, probably in his 40's. He had a stereotypical pirate accent. His face was slightly disfigured.

"I've seen worse". I replied bluntly, glaring out the window.

He chuckled to himself. "Well, what's ruffled yer feathers, lassie?"

"It's none of your business".

"Well, if you want to be tha' way, lassie".

I gritted my teeth, and pulled out my iPod from my backpack. It's quite a small backpack. I've worn it out and it's falling apart.

But I'll never throw it out. My dad got it for me when I was 10. He died when I was 12. He was the only person that ever really understood me, and cared for me.

More than likely the only person that ever will, too. I miss him like hell. I pray to him every morning and night. I'd never pray to 'God'. He's meant to work miracles, isn't he? I've yet to see him doing me a solid.

He died in a car accident. He wasn't drunk or anything, the bitch that hit him was. She was leaving a nightclub, and she was so drunk that she didn't even know her own name.

My thoughts returned to this 'town' I was driving to. 'Good Riddance (Time of your Life)' by Green Day started to play, and I slowly fell asleep to the soft sound of guitar quietly strumming. Quite an ironic song to play, given my situation, don't you think?

**And that's chapter one! I've edited that around 6 times since I first published it, but I'm proud of this edit. I realise that Cap'n is meant to be a turtle, and that Scarlett sees him as a person. This will be explained sometime in the later chapters.**

**I hope you liked this! If you did, please, let me know. Or if you have constructive critism, feel free to give it to me.**

**But please, don't flame. If you don't like it, let me know, but please don't be unnessarily mean about it.**

**- Charlie Fletcher.  
**


	2. Till Death Do Us Part

**Chapter 2: Till Death Do Us Part**

_It was a beautiful afternoon. But then again, everything was beautiful when my Dad was around. His smile could brighten up the most dullest of grey afternoons._

_"Daddy..." I mumbled cautiously._

_He smiled down at me. His grey eyes twinkled when he smiled. They were the most amazing grey..._

_We were at the beach, sitting on a bench. He had gotten us our usual ice-creams, chocolate for me and cookie dough for him._

_"Yes, honeypiesweetiepooh." He grinned. I giggled. He was the only one that could ever make me laugh, even to this day._

_"We were talking in class today about our Mummies and Daddies. Jessica McKane, remember her?" He nodded._

_"She came up to the front and told everyone that she didn't have a Daddy. She said he left her and her Mummy when she was only a baby"._

_His face took on a more serious, but just as gentle expression while I was speaking._

_"I felt sorry for her, so I gave her a big hug after class. I can't imagine what life without you would be like..."_

_There was a calm silence. I looked out at the lapping waves going in and out, in and out. They were always fascinating to me._

_"Promise you'll never, ever leave me and Mummy?" I whispered, looking back at him. "Promise you'll stay with us for ever and ever?"_

_"I promise." he replied quietly, his voice as smooth as velvet. His took my right hand and squeezed it gently._

_"Pinky promise?" I held out my left pinky._

_"Pinky promise" He shook my pinky with his and we continued licking our ice-creams, joking and chatting cheerfully._

_Till death do us part..._

I woke with a start. The car had staggered to a halt and taxi driver was calling me.

"Missy? Missy, we're here. Wake up, lass."

"I'm awake.." I mumbled. The ghost image of Dad's smile was painfully fresh in my mind.

I started to put my things back into my backpack. I didn't describe my backpack too well, did I? Well, like I said, my Dad got it for me.

It's a lovely pale blue with black stitching and a embroidered star on the front pocket. It's adorned with all my badges and pins.

"I never caugh' yer name missus," the taxi driver smiled at me. Apparently, he still wanted to be nice to me, even though I was obviously making no effort.

"Scarlett," I replied quietly. "What's it to you?"

He ignored the latter. "Scarlett. Cute name. Yer mam or dad give tha' tah ya?"

I sighed. "My Dad. My Mum wanted to call me Bridie, but Dad said he didn't want his daughter growing up to be an old-fashioned eejit."

He chuckled. "And did yer Dad wanna send ya here?"

"My Dad died three years ago." I muttered while opening the door. I slung my backpack on my back, got out, and slammed the door behind me. The taxi driver got out after me.

"I'm awful sorry lassie," he said while opening the boot. With a grunt, he dragged my suitcase out. It hit the ground with a heavy thud.

I didn't reply. I took the suitcase from him and took my purse out of my backpack. "So, what do I owe you? Twenty? Thirty?"

"Don't worry bou' tha'," He winked at me. "Nook has tha' covered. T'was a pleasure meeting ya, Scarlett."

I smiled at him. Yeah, believe it or not, I smiled. "You too, eh.. what's your name?" I was getting tired of mentally referring to him as 'taxi driver'.

He climbed into the car and closed the door. He started to drive away. I thought he wasn't going to reply when he shouted out the window,

"Me name's Cap'n!"

I smiled once more, this time to myself, and pulled out the handle on my suitcase, ready to wheel it away. I was sort of annoyed at myself for how quickly and easily I became comfortable around Cap'n.

Even though I just smiled at him, it was something other than scowling. It was something new. Different. And it had felt good. Really good.

I turned away from the road, and looked around at my surroundings.

I was in front of a red bricked building with white pillars and large, grey-paned windows. There was a message etched into the marble above the door. I squinted to make out the words.

_"Copperbrook was founded in 1927 by Mayor Tortimer, a valiant heart with an image of harmony and unity"._

Copperbrook. So, that's where I was. What a strange name for a town.

I walked slowly towards the entrance, and pushed the door open.


End file.
